It is the same today. The reason why men and women are so slow to understand what Christ came for, what he was really doing, is simply that they are so earthbound. The only things that matter to them have to do with this life. You hear it on the radio, on the television, on the internet. People talk about the gospel; they talk about the Christian message, but they don't really know what it means. What do they think it's all about? It is about helping this world now, peace and goodwill now: the church is on earth to help the world solve its problems right now. They don't understand that it has to do with the soul, with eternity, with the spiritual realm far more than with this world.
Do you understand the cross of Calvary? Many, many thousands of people don't. The authors of that musical, Jesus Christ Superstar, didn't understand it in the least. We are told that they read all the books they could lay their hands on. They didn't seem to lay their hands on many good books, or if they did, they were very slow, because they didn't understand. They didn’t have the slightest idea what Christ was doing on Calvary. Do you know what he was doing there? He was bearing in his own holy soul the full punishment and the full agony due to you and I for our sins, if we are ever to become his people. He was making an atonement. Just think of the word. It has the simplest definition in the world: it is at-one-ment. It is a word that was invented by a Bible translator years and years ago because we didn't have an adequate word for this in the English language. How can I be made at one with God, related to him? How can I be brought to God and united with him? I am full of sin. God is absolutely holy. I have rebelled against him and have a great debt to him on account of my wickedness. I am selfish and rotten in my heart. How can I be married to God, joined with him, come to know him? I cannot. Christ must form a bridge between God and his people, and make an atonement, make us one. That is what he did on the cross of Calvary. He bridged that gap and made me one with God by taking my sins, putting them upon himself on the cross of Calvary, and bearing the punishment that was due to me, so that my sins were purged away, cancelled, got rid of.
Do you understand why he rose from the dead? Firstly, in order that he could demonstrate that his sufferings on Calvary had been wholly successful, that he had truly borne the sins of all his people. Secondly, to prove that he had the power of life, the power to raise himself up and to ascend to God. Thirdly, to prove finally that he was God. Fourthly, to prove that he has the power to give life to us, eternal life, life beyond the grave, and spiritual life right now.